Question
My baby is on nevirapine and I’m breastfeeding, is my baby positive?
19 August 2016. Related: All topics, Pregnancy.
Answer
Firstly, congratulations on having your baby.
It is normal for your baby to be given a short course (4 weeks) of HIV treatment (such as nevirapine) when born. This doesn’t mean your baby is HIV positive. This will be checked later through testing. A different type of testing is also used on babies as the normal antibody test used in adults will show the baby as positive.
Our guide on pregnancy has lots more information
https://i-base.info/guides/pregnancy
In the UK, the BHIVA (British HIV Association) guidelines recommend bottle feeding.
This is because in countries where mothers can have access to to formula milk AND clean water ANDÂ bottle sterilising equipment, the risk of transmitting HIV to the baby through bottle feeding is zero. There are different recommendations for other countries though and many women breastfeed. I am not sure about the recommendations in Zambia.
This means that you are doing the best that you can to protect your baby.
However, being positive and looking after a new born baby can be hard and many people need help. Do you have much support around you to help or are you touch with good care from your doctor?
Hi i was breastfeeding for 3 days and my breast milk was low and suddenly not coming so i decided to give my baby formula. But now this formula is not good to my baby so is it safe to change to another formula
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Hi Azile, yes it is safe to switch to formula. As you will be switching away from breastmilk there is no risk from switching to formula.
After ceasing breastfeeding, you can test from 6 weeks after the last time baby was breastfed. This will confirm their HIV status.
Hi my baby is 2 weeks old and my vl is lower than detected but i want to stop breastfeeding because of fear and so many other reasons i know my baby is safe while I’m undetected & she is on her medication but what i want is to stop breastfeeding is it safe to switch to formula?
Hi Zuzile, congratulations on having a baby and it is great to hear that your viral load is undetectable.
How is baby being fed? and was a time difference between giving baby milk and magnesia and their NVP?
How long has baby been constipated for?
This is not going to risk baby’s treatment not working and after 6 weeks there is no further benefit in continuing to give NVP (this should be discussed with your doctor before stopping). Did giving baby milk of magnesia help?
Hi my viral load is undetectable uhm taking my medication very good my baby is 8 weeks been give him NVP my baby been constipated so l used milk of magnesia to assist him so uhm scared is it going to be affected
Hi Mirabel, please talk to your doctor and clinic about this. This isn’t something we can help with either way.
I was breastfeeding just a week after giving birth and stopped because my baby had jaundice. It’s been two months now and I want to know if I can go back to breastfeeding?
Hi Talia, congratulations on having a baby. As baby is now 6 months there is no further risk of transmission by mixing breastmilk and solids.
Was baby prescribed zidovudine and nevirapine for 6 months? These treatments are often only prescribed for 6 weeks (sometimes 12 weeks in high risk pregnancies). Continuing with treatment longer than this does not offer any additional benefit.
Have you been told by your doctor how long to keep baby on treatment?
Treatment for baby is explained here: https://i-base.info/qa/factsheets/infant-meds-when-the-mother-is-living-with-hiv
Hai,my baby is almost six months and has been on nevirapine and zidovudine,.six days ago I ran out of zidovudine but have continued giving nevirapine. His also started on solid foods, like maize meal porridge with pounded groundnuts and other times mixed with meat soup…. I have been taking my medicine as well,his still breast feeding.. .what do I do? Could my son be infected?
Hi Anela, congratulations on giving birth. It is great that your viral load is LDL and baby is doing so well.
Adding water to baby’s diet along with formula only feed is not going to cause any risk of HIV transmission.
As baby is still young it is advised to use boiled cooled water to prevent any risk of other infections. After 6 months you will not need to do this.